Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, who batted a Major League-best .545, has been named American League Pepsi Player of the Week for the period of August 25-31.
Konerko led the AL in on-base percentage (.630) and total bases (24) and tied for the league-lead with 12 hits. In six games, he posted a 1.091 slugging percentage, three runs, three doubles, three home runs, and eight RBI. Konerko, a member of last year's AL All-Star Team, collected five straight multi-hit games during the week, including his first multi-homer game of the season at Yankee Stadium last Tuesday. This is the first career weekly award for Konerko, who hit .301 overall in August with five home runs and 16 RBI.
Other candidates were: Konerko's teammate and last week's winner, Frank Thomas (.350, 4 HR, AL-high 12 RBI); Boston's David Ortiz (.476, 4 HR, 8 RBI); Kansas City's Joe Randa (.500, 1 HR, 4 RBI); Nick Johnson (.385, 4 RBI) of the New York Yankees; Seattle's John Olerud (.462, 4 RBI); Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff (.455, 3 HR, 10 RBI); and Toronto's Josh Phelps (.529, 3 HR, 8 RBI, ML-best 1.176 SLG). Ortiz recently hit seven home runs with 15 RBI in a span of nine games (8/21-8/30).
Pitchers who received consideration were: 2003 AL All-Star Game starter Esteban Loaiza (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 5 H, 17 SO) of the White Sox; Darrell May (1-0, 0.00 ERA) of the Royals; Andy Pettitte (2-0, 2.63 ERA) of the Yankees; Oakland's Keith Foulke (6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 saves) and Ted Lilly (2-0, 2.08 ERA); and Seattle's Jamie Moyer (2-0, 1.84 ERA). May blanked Texas on Wednesday with a five-hit shutout.
Konerko will receive a Tourneau luxury Swiss timepiece as the AL Pepsi Player of the Week.